HOTD Online
by VA842867
Summary: Takashi Komuro is your average, video-game addicted teenager. However, his interest is piqued when a new game comes out, the first of its kind. A completely immersive game in post-apocalyptic Japan, riddled with the walking dead and bandits who would rather cut your throat and steal your cash than work with you. AU Possible Takashi/Saeko in the future.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, what's up my lovely readers? So, I'm gonna try and make this somewhat short and sweet so that you guys can move on to the story (which only applies if you actually read author notes, anyways :/). This story takes place in a world where the outbreak did not occur. However, there's something even better that happens. That's right, an immersive zombie apocalypse MMO. Probably not totally original, but I SO wanted to try this, at least once.**

**Most of the main HOTD characters will be in this.**

**For those of you who have also read or watched SAO, you're probably rolling your eyes at me right now. XD**

**I do not own any of the ideas the originated within High School of the Dead, but all characters and ideas separate from HOTD belong to me.**

The spiky, black-haired boy's bike skidded to a stop right in front of his home, nearly disemboweling him in the process. The boy left his banged up bicycle lying in front of the garage and rushed inside, a large package held under his shoulder and a wide grin lighting up his face. He fumbled with his keys for only a moment before swinging the door open and closing it shut with a loud bang.

On entrance to the quiet, but fairly large two-story home, Takashi Komuro very nearly rushed up the stairs to his room, but hesitated for a moment. Quickly, he jogged over to the kitchen counter, and sure enough, a note had been left.

_Takashi,_

_ I won't be coming home until late tonight, sorry. Something major came up with Kuroki-chan, and I have absolutely no idea when I might come back. There's leftovers in the fridge, when you're ready to eat. _

_ Also, Morita-san called. He was wondering if you had that game you two have been discussing yet. _

_ Love,_

_ Mom_

Takashi glanced at his battered watch, his hazel eyes scanning the time and then calculating how fast he could scarf down a meal before the launch time. Figuring that he could heat up the food, just shove it down his throat, and call Morita at the same time, the spiky-haired boy threw the slightly old curry rice into the microwave, dialing his dear friend's cell all the while. It took three or four rings for the Morita to answer, but when he did, his voice was urgent.

"Takashi," he whined. "What are you doing? It's gonna start in…" There was a quick pause, and Takashi imagined Morita searching frantically for his calendar. "Literally, it's gonna start in five and a half minutes!"

"Relax," Takashi replied, using a soft tone while juggling the steaming meal. Nabbing a pair of chopsticks, he quickly dove in. "I wouldn't miss the official launch for the world."

"Well fuck, man, you're cutting it kinda- OW!" Morita yelled. "Oh, uh, hi mom…" There was a pause, and Takashi could barely suppress his laughter. "Listen, Takashi… I gotta go…"

The spiky haired boy almost giggled as he stuffed his face with rice. "You do that. Will you still be able to make it?"

"Yeah, I'll make it. I'll make it…" he replied, distractedly. "Yes mom, I'm getting off the phone now, OK? Bye Takashi." There was a click and Takashi put down his phone before running over to the sink and washing out the bowl with speed that could not be matched by any regular mortal. Practically a blur, he vanished upstairs, taking the fairly large package with him.

Finally alone within his room, Takashi took a moment to inspect the package, and began to open it with an almost reverent grace. However, that soon gave way to the excited frenzy that is the ripping of cardboard and the tossing of bubble wrap. Takashi eagerly grabbed a somewhat clunky helmet and pushed it on his head, attaching a metal clip to his ear lobe and popping on two suction pads onto his forehead, according to the directions contained within the box.

Completely prepared to begin, the video game-addicted boy lay down on his narrow, messy bed and flipped the small switch on his headset. The helmet lenses flickered to life, displaying the battery life, the time, and the countdown until the game began. Apprehension filled his body as he realized that there was barely twenty seconds until it started.

'I wonder what it'll be like, an immersive video-game…' he thought as he glared at the countdown, daring it to go even slower than the crawl that it was at. 'Truly, the first of its kind…'

10…

'What'll it even be like? It's supposed to be absolutely amazing, or at least, that's what the beta-testers said…' He closed his eyes briefly. 'Z-Day: Dawn of the Dead… the most talk about game for the last two years, and in the top ten for the last five. The amount of work that must've been put into this thing is tremendous.'

5…

Takashi readied himself, running through all the possible strategies that he had heard rumors about online. How you could focus on fighting from a distance or up close and personal, the basic things to keep in mind when in combat with zombies, and, especially, the zombies' characteristics.

3…

2…

1…

_Hello, new player. Please, say your name out loud._

"Takashi Komuro."

_Thank you, Takashi Komuro. Welcome to Z-Day: Dawn of the Dead. Before you enter into the world of apocalyptic Japan, please take the time to choose a few key components in your character. Be careful, as these components will be important to how you play the game and will be difficult to change later on. However, when you die, these options will be reset, thus allowing you to fix any mistakes you might have made, but also forcing you to begin from square one. First, please choose your profession. When you are finished choosing, speak clearly which profession you would like._

The screen was suddenly filled with words. It took Takashi a moment to take it all in. 'Athlete… plus 15 base agility and plus 10 base stamina, plus 5 base resistance, plus 5 base strength… begins with a wooden bat and a Kel-Tec handgun… Geez, there are a lot of these!' Takashi thought, anxious about all the possibilities as he quickly checked over the other professions. 'It said I could always restart, but I'd rather not do something like that near the beginning of the launch…

He scrolled past athlete, then boxer, then business man, then chef, then fire man, scrolling and skimming through countless jobs until he finally reached police officer, by which point Takashi was extremely exasperated and frustrated. 'Police officer, huh?' He grinned. 'I've always wanted to be one of these in a game.' Quickly, he scanned over the bonuses. 'Plus 10 base reloading speed, plus 10 base accuracy, plus 10 base resistance, plus 5 base strength, plus 10 base shotgun proficiency, begins with a Mossberg 590 along with the other basic weapons, and… -10% XP rate?' The spiky-haired boy blinked for a second, quite a bit surprised. 'Due to… previous training, this profession has a slightly harder time learning new things… I guess 10 percent isn't all that much, but…' He scowled. 'I've been looking through these for who knows how long. I just want to get to the game…'

"Police officer." Although a little annoyed, Takashi pushed that aside as he awaited the next set of options.

_Thank you for choosing your profession. Now, please choose your alignment. Once again, speak clearly what you wish your alignment to be._

Again, the screen flashed with a pop-up. This one read "Chaotic Neutral." Takashi quickly browsed each of them, checking out the bonuses that they gave. Too tired to really care, he picked Lawful Good, as he supposed it fit with his profession, and it supplied him with a plus 10 base resistance, although he had no idea what that did, and a plus 10 base stamina.

_ Thank you for picking your alignment. Other players will not be able to see this alignment unless you enter into a party with them. If this is the case, you will know whether or not they may aid you in your quest for survival, or become an obstacle that will be your downfall. Now, please allocate the free stat points which are gifted to all players that logged in within an hour of the official launch._

Takashi smiled widely. 'Finally, a break.' Once more, the pop-up flashed, but this time, it showed all of his character's stats. 'So, I get 20 stat points to use on my basic stats, and 15 points to use on my proficiency stats. I assume that the proficiency stats allow you to use stronger weapons? I just don't know enough to really make a strong decision… Let's see…' Quickly, the spiky-haired boy asked the system to place 10 stat points in agility, 5 stat points in endurance, 5 stat points in strength, 10 proficiency points in melee proficiency, and 10 proficiency points in shotgun proficiency.

_You have selected all the necessary components to finalize your character. I am happy to welcome you, officially, to Z-Day: Dawn of the Dead._

Takashi blinked, dismayed. "Wait, what about my character's name? What about my avatar?

The screen turned dark before bursting into color, surrounding Takashi with its light before placing him in a large courtyard, filled to the brim with people who were pushing and shoving their way around. A dark, crimson moon hung in the sky, ominously surrounded by large, black clouds. The area itself had tiles stained with what looked blood, and was scattered with useless debris. The area was fenced off, making sure that people were unable to escape the area for the time being, but he supposed that would change in a little while. A few people, clad in black or white shirts of many different types, and oftentimes wearing caps or other hats, turned Takashi's way before returning to their previous conversations and activities, clearly uninterested in another newcomer.

'That's to be expected of course,' he thought, as he took in the beautiful sights. 'There're nearly 5,000 people expected to be in the first release.' Takashi looked down at his hand, clenching it into a fist and unclenching it. 'It really is immersive. All of this looks so… so real.' Grinning widely, and not giving a thought to his possible appearance or apparent lack of character name, Takashi burst forward into the crowd, more than eager to get a taste of this new, vibrant world.

**A/N: Alright, so it's a little short. First chapter and all that. :/**

**If you liked it, review.**

**If you didn't like it, but you bothered to read this far, review anyways. It really makes my day. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yay, and upate! XD**

**I'll barely ever update this fast. I write pretty slow, to be honest. Usually, writing is simply an off and on hobby for me. When I get inspired, I like to sit down and write a few thousand words. **

**Ah, whatever. You just want to read a chapter, right? Don't really care what I have to say at the beginning, anyways. ;)**

**I don't own anything in this story that originated from High School of the Dead, but all original ideas belong to me.**

_Quote From the Official Z-Day: Dawn of the Dead Handbook_

_The base six stats are; strength, a requirement stat for some weapons and most armor that also boosts damage done by in melee, agility, which boosts reaction time and movement speed, stamina, which decreases hunger rate, exhaustion rate and thirst rate as well as increasing maximum health, accuracy, which increases hit rates with firearms and increases chances for a critical hit with most weapons, reloading speed, which decreases the time it takes to empty a used clip and push a new one into a firearm, and resistance, which decreases the chances of infection, sickness, and hysteria._

Another swing from Takashi's blood stained bat, and the last of the infected group fell to the abandoned street. His blond-haired companion patted him on the back, wiping away the streaks of blood from his combat knife with his orange suit. The two observed the bodies before them, eventually grinning from their success.

"Alright, Takashi," Morita announced. "As of that last zed, we are both, officially, level 3 players." Dramatically, the teenager with a small mohawk bowed towards an invisible crowd. "Thank you, thank you. Yes, I know I'm simply amazing and absolutely beautiful. Oh, oh you people are just too kind!" Once more he bowed, much to his black-haired friend's amusement.

"Let's move on," Takashi interrupted, giving Morita's performance a small grin. "There are too many people here, and the zombies aren't respawning fast enough." Mid-step, Takashi tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Geez, we've barely checked around for loot. Think we should search a little?"

Morita shrugged, holding his head back and gazing dreamily up at the dreary sky. "I don't really care man. If you think we should, we can. I just wanna experience the game. It's so freaking awesome, being able to fight semi-real zombies with your own semi-real hands." He sighed, contentedly. "I don't know how I ever lived without it."

Takashi's smile grew even wider. "I know, right? It feels like you're actually in a world where a shit load of zombies is all that can be seen for miles upon miles." The two of them began to inspect the various abandoned vehicles in the road, occasionally searching random corpses that lay on the streets, some mangled up, others seemingly fresh.

'Even the launch ceremony was amazing,' Takashi thought, inwardly sighing as his fumbling left hand finally grabbed onto a box of Band-Aids, the most basic of all medical items within Z-Day: Dawn of the Dead. 'There were so many people, from so many walks of life. Being spoken to and instructed by the head administrator on the basics of the game, telling us about this city, the futuristic Tokyo, and most of all, the story behind the MM virus. Even the fact that I don't have an avatar, and that my regular name is my character name doesn't bother me as much anymore. I'm just glad to be a part of this.'

The spiky haired boy glanced briefly at his health bar, which had only been nudged to the left a tad when he had been careless enough to allow one of the infected to get close. Signaling for Morita to move out, the two of them ventured farther into the city, watching eagerly for any signs of zombie activity, occasionally stopping on the way to check bodies and vehicles for supplies.

"Hey, Takashi," the blond-haired boy whispered as his companion dutifully searched a dead man's pockets. "There's a zombie over there… but it's weird. Come over here, now."

Shaking his head in annoyance, Takashi made his way over. His hazel eyes widened in shock at the sight that greeted him.

Morita hadn't been kidding when he said that this one was different. Truly, it was gigantic, towering over the two of them by a foot or two, it seemed. To top it off, this particular zombie was fitted with enormous muscles that looked perfect for tearing apart fragile survivors. Overall, it was a terrifying visage to behold, and nearly had Takashi shaking in his digital boots.

Worst of all, this particular, irregular, gigantic zed had seemed to take notice of their activities. It was lumbering towards them a little clumsily, but with clear purpose. There was absolutely no one around on this street. There was no one to assist the two of them. Morita fumbled with his backpack for a moment, eventually pulling out a small book.

"Takashi, let me see if I can scan it and get an article in the Bestiary. Keep it distracted, alright?" the worried, blond haired boy asked nervously. "Christ, this thing is huge…"

'You're telling me.' Takashi ran over to a nearby garbage can and tipped it over. It landed with a loud, resounding clang that served its purpose, making the behemoth turn towards the noise immediately. 'Alright, now that it's away from Morita, I should be able to take it down, slowly, but surely… If I melee this thing, though, it'll be like committing suicide. One swipe and I'll be finished…' Swiftly, the worried teenager pulled out his Kel-Tec handgun and shot a few quick rounds into the beast.

It took the hits without stopping, showing no evidence of pain or damage. However, after another few shots, it seemed to tense up. Takashi, sensing a chance, pulled back. He was just in time, as the huge zombie began to move faster than ever, using its large fists to wreck all in its path. Frightened to death, and with his screen beginning to blur, Takashi pulled out his shotgun, aimed in the zeds vague direction, and fired.

This time, it stumbled before continuing on its rampage. Encouraged, the spiky-haired teen put a few more shells into the beast, damaging it, but not even coming close to killing it, all the while trying to keep out of its way.

"Done!" Morita exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "Takashi, you won't believe this!"

"I'm pretty sure I'd believe anything in a zombie survival game, Morita," Takashi huffed, feeling the wear on his endurance from constantly dodging. "Hurry up and tell me what the hell this monster is!"

"The Bestiary says it's called a **Smasher,** and that it's a bitten weight lifter that has received extreme mutations to its muscular system, resulting in-"

"The short version, if you please?!" A nearby car was flipped over by the mutated zombie and barely missed Takashi.

"In other words, this is the first boss level zombie around the Kaishi Stockade, with around 1,000 HP. If we take this thing down, we won't just level up four times from the shit load of experience it drops, we'll each receive a valuable item from its corpse." Tossing the book back into his bag, Morita drew his handgun, grinning widely. "Let's kill this fucker and see what we get!"

Takashi grinned. "Beating a boss on the first day of the official launch? No problem."

By this time, the mutated boss was severely enraged, and both Morita and Takashi were occasionally forced to deal with surrounding small fry attracted by the symphony of jarring noise and gunshots. However, after several minutes of constant dodging and using each other's presence and the beast's lack of sight to deploy simple strategies, it finally fell to their smoking weapons. Each equally worn out from the fight, the two approached its corpse and looted the body quickly, each hoping beyond hope that they would get something totally badass.

Takashi inspected the Kevlar vest quietly, a little disappointed by such an anti-climactic drop. "Is this thing… armor?" Without thinking he placed the vest in his inventory and equipped it from there. The result thoroughly astounded him. A new image appeared in the corner of his screen, showing a silhouette of a regular body. In this silhouette, the chest and part of the arms were filled in with green, and a value to the side read "25%-50/50."

"Damn, this is one fine looking machine gun, wouldn't you agree?" Morita bragged, stroking the shiny barrel. "A… P90 light machine gun? Oh, my sweet, we're gonna have some real good times together, that I can promise you…" Content, the teenage boy cuddled with his new, and very dangerous, toy.

Takashi inspected his body, frowning at the various bruises and cuts. His health bar was nearing red, and that would make looting here all the more dangerous. Working swiftly, he grabbed two or three boxes of Band-Aids from his pack and applied them to a few wounds. Both the wounds and the healing items began to disappear as his health bar began to refill into the safer green area. He tossed a box to Morita, who caught it without even glancing over.

"This game," Morita muttered as he applied the Band-Aids. "I feel enhanced, man. I'm running faster, my reflexes are like lightning." The blond-haired boy with a mohawk flexed his bicep. "It all feels so… real, you know? I almost don't want to leave."

Takashi glanced at the time. "We both still have another hour or so until it's time to pull out. If we work fast, we might even be able to reach level 10." He offered a hand to the still-crouching Morita, who took it gratefully. "C'mon," Takashi yelled as he ran down the streets, scanning for more victims. "We got some slaughtering to do!"

**Somewhere, West of Kaishi Stockade**

The boy, his rifle in hand, rushed over behind the nearest car. A group of **EZs** shambled about down the road, completely unaware of his presence. He had, after all, taken great pains to keep himself hidden. Lucky for him, he had gone so far away from the crowded grinding areas near Kaishi Stockade that there was no one in the vicinity. The last person he had seen was a group of five men, all armed with basic equipment, carelessly sauntering about, attracting **EZs **by the dozens with their voices. He hadn't dared take a shot. The last time someone had realized he was present and grinding levels, they had tried to take him out. A complete waste of ammunition and effort, really, but it had taught him a valuable lesson.

This world was an online game with thousands of players. In an online game with thousands of players, there were bound to be those who put their success above the success of others, no matter the cost. He had also heard, vague rumors only, that a PvP kill outside the various arenas within Kaishi Stockade gave the winner a portion of the loser's maximum XP and one item from their inventory. If this was true, at least half of the game's population would attack lonely players, just for the weapons and armor they used.

He wouldn't be like that. He would never be like that, unless, of course, he was provoked. Shaking himself back to the semi-reality he was immersed in, the cloaked, and rather stubby, teenager once more raised his sights. The **EZs** were no longer alone. Two more shapes were outlined in the fog. These were hunched over, and slightly smaller than their stumbling counterparts. They also moved far faster, even without being provoked. Frowning, the boy reached into his pack and withdrew his Bestiary, concentrating intensely on the newcomers. It was ten or so seconds before the words began to finally form. They flitted across the page, appearing letter by letter, as if being written in real time. Impatiently, he waited for the page to be fully written before reading.

'**Critters**? Lame name, but whatever,' he thought dismissively as he read. 'Huh, these things are actually kinda dangerous. A much higher movement speed, able to climb various objects when in pursuit… Still, they have a weaker hit and lower HP than regular zombies.' Quietly, the teenager placed his Bestiary inside of his pack and brought the rifle sight back to his eye. 'They won't be a problem. One head-shot and they'll be finished, just like all the others.'

The first shot counted the most. If the zeds you were aiming at were unaware of your presence, they moved slower and allowed a chance for a head-shot, or an instant kill, to be higher than normal. However, once they realized that all was not right, they began to move towards the source of the offending sound. One or two at a time were no problem at all, but **EZs** tended to spawn in groups of six or more, thus increasing the difficulty level. With this in mind, he aimed just below the head of one of the **Critters** and fired.

The rather expensive rifle bullet shot through the air and, with spot on aim, landed between the hunched over zombie's eyes, killing it instantly. Almost immediately all seven or so zombies turned towards the source of the bullet and charged. The remaining **Critter **moved ridiculously fast, covering half of the distance between them. The cloaked teen, at this point having fired two more shots that only partially hit the swift zombie, was swearing enough to make a toughened sailor blush. When the leading zed was nearly upon him, the boy stepped back from the car and drew his hunting knife, ready to stab.

The **Critter** leaped over the car hood and fell upon the boy and grabbed his arms, screaming into his face. Unable to fight without the knife, the player was forced to simply take it. His screen began to slowly blur, and when that blur gave away, he found that the zombie had released him. He clutched his stomach, his eyesight flickering.

'What… what's happening…?' The boy looked up at the corner of his screen. His health bar was outlined in a pale green, and near the side, an icon said "Sick." He turned, woozily, back to the **Critter**, who was circling him hungrily. With only vague awareness, he swung the hunting knife a few times, completely missing the almost taunting zed. A new icon appeared near the side of his health bar, saying "Hysteria." When the boy saw that, he grew furious. Fighting against the grogginess, he leaped at the surprised undead creature and struck it in the chest. It howled in agony, ripping itself free from the deadly instrument before staggering backwards, its eyes rolling in their sockets. Finally, it fell to the earth, once again dead. The boy turned, staggering, his "Hysteria" icon fading. Raising his rifle to the slow, but near, oncoming group of **EZs**, he fired.

Not once, even "Sick," did he miss his target.

When all was done, Kohta Hirano forced himself to wait for the debuff to wear-off before moving farther westward, shouldering his rifle over his shoulder and grinning widely. Finally, he was level 8.

**A/N: Another chapter, another look at the game. I added that little caption at the top for your guys' benefit, as I'm never just gonna list off how the game works. Every chapter, you'll get a little insight. **

**Yes, many of "Them" will be mutants. Otherwise this game would be way too easy with some of the weapons that come in later on. :P**

**Most of "Them" will still be blind, though. **

**It might be a while before some of the girls come in. Sorry about that. **

**If you have any ideas, feel free to PM me. Oh yeah, and don't forget to R&R, guys. XD**


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